Left hemisphere intracerebral hemorrhages studied by ( (F-18)-fluorodeoxyglucose PET.

We used PET to study patients with intracerebral hemorrhages in the left hemisphere. Three anatomic and physiologic patterns were observed. Patients 1 and 2 had midputamen hemorrhages with diffuse left less than right hemispheric metabolic asymmetry most prominent in temporal and parietal regions. Patients 3 and 4 had posterior putamen-insula-temporal hemorrhages with left less than right metabolic asymmetry in temporoparietal cortex and thalamus. Patients 5, 6, and 7 had smaller posterior hemorrhages. Left cortical metabolism was little affected in these three cases. Persistent aphasia was associated with severe metabolic left less than right asymmetry in posterior middle temporal regions.